Contact: Rob Ostrander 202.224.7627 Shana Stribling 202.224.0309
Thursday, July 21, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Kit Bond today announced that he secured $4 million in federal funds for services to provide senior citizens, disabled and other residents in rural Missouri critical access to transportation in the Senate Transportation-Treasury-HUD spending bill.

“Public transportation is not just important in our nation’s metropolitan areas. For many in rural America, public transportation is the only way to get to the doctor or grocery store,” said Bond. “For the seniors and disabled in our community these funds will mean increased mobility and independence.”

“In Missouri, the only capital funding source for replacing vehicles in the OATS fleet is the Federal Transit Administration. Senator Kit Bond has been directly responsible for allowing OATS to modernize its fleet by obtaining more than $11.7 million in earmarks for OATS over the past ten years, thus assuring safe, reliable rides for Missouri’s seniors and people with disabilities in the OATS 87-county service area,” said Linda Yaeger, OATS Executive Director.

As chairman of the Senate Transportation-Treasury-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee, Bond secured the $4 million in federal funds in the fiscal year 2006 spending bill, which is expected to pass the full committee today. Before being signed into the law the bill must be passed by the full Senate and reconciled with the House of Representatives version.

The $4 million will be used for the Older Adults Transportation Service (OATS) program, which is a non-profit service that provides better transportation services to senior citizens, the disabled and other rural residents.

The money will be used by OATS to purchase twelve replacement vehicles. The vehicles will be used throughout metropolitan Kansas City, and Boone, Moniteau, Schuyler, Grundy, Nodaway, Platte, Jackson and Cass counties.